College notebook: Happy to be home - former Branson standout Xander McNally excels for Dominican basketball team

WHEN Xander McNally packed his bags and left his San Francisco home for the University of Denver on a basketball scholarship, the former Branson School standout had an inkling he might be out of Denver before his four years were up.

What he didn't know was that he would end up right back where his career began.

Almost three years after helping the Bulls to the second of three consecutive state championship titles, McNally is back on the Marin basketball scene, this time at Dominican University, where the sophomore has won starting point guard duties in the Penguins' first NCAA Division II season.

It might come as a surprise to those who followed McNally's freshman year at Denver that he would leave a D-I program and land at a fledgling D-II school like Dominican. After all, McNally played more than 25 minutes per game as a freshman with the Pioneers, leading the team in steals with 2.2 per game, which also ranked him 25th nationally.

But McNally disagreed with the role in which the coaching staff slotted him. Though he would not say specifically, McNally insinuated that he may not have liked being limited to a defensive specialist. Couple that with the realization that pursuing his studies in the restaurant management field would be impossible with his basketball workload and McNally understood it was time for a change of scenery.

"It was in the weeks and months right after the season ended. The first season went well, it was that next step that was really creating the conflict," McNally said. "The first year went pretty well for me. I was getting good minutes, getting my numbers or whatever and our team was doing pretty well for what we had, but as far as the coach's outlook for the next year, the way he was approaching it didn't fit in with what I wanted, what was right."

By fall, McNally was back living in San Francisco and taking classes at College of Marin while deciding on his next step. He worked for a catering company and helped friend Steve Compagno coach the Redwood High boys basketball team.

"It was pretty strange to be on the other side of the Branson bench," McNally said of coaching the Giants in a loss to the Bulls.

Eventually, McNally opened a dialogue with the Dominican coaching staff through Jesse Haskins, now an assistant with the Penguins but once an assistant at Branson.

"Dominican wasn't my first thought, I didn't have anything particular in mind, but it came together," McNally said. "It seemed like a good option with everything they were doing there, the big move to D-II, the coaches' philosophy, hiring a new AD. That showed the support they had, and that's important to an athlete to know they have support."

Coach Bret Tovani jumped at the chance to bring in a D-I caliber athlete. He said he expects McNally to run the point while defending the opponent's best perimeter player. Already McNally, who had three steals and eight assists in setting the tone for Dominican to take an early 15-3 lead in an eventual 92-66 loss to USF on Nov. 16, has shown his value on both ends of the floor. In three starts, all losses, McNally has averaged 5.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals.

More importantly, the sophomore floor general has taken on a leadership role in just his first year with the Penguins.

"(His teammates) recognize his skill and know that he's obviously a very talented guy, and he's easy to get a long with," Tovani said. "They absolutely look up to him. He's a hard worker, he's had a great attitude ever since he's been here and we think that he's a pretty important part of this."

It remains to be seen if McNally will play out the rest of his career at Dominican. Though he refused to say one way or the other, the former D-I player might want to get back to the top level of college basketball eventually.

For the time being, he's content to be back home.

"I'm happy at Dominican right now," McNally said.

On campus

- There were Marin natives aplenty on the field Nov. 14 when the City College of San Francisco football team played at Santa Rosa Junior College. Former San Anselmo resident and Drake High standout Darius Bell threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns, also rushing 14 times for 81 yards, to lead the Rams to a 47-24 win over the Bear Cubs. Santa Rosa quarterback Grayson Galloway, a Redwood alum, threw two interceptions but also completed 23 of 35 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. Fellow former Giants Cooper Helfet (five catches, 59 yards) and Sean Ricucci (one catch, 20 yards) were two of his targets on the day. Bell and CCSF (9-1) will play host to American River (6-4) Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. in the Hawaiian Punch Bowl.

- Boise State junior nickel back Winston Venable, a San Rafael native, was named one of the players of the week for the No. 6 Broncos. Venable had four tackles in a 52-21 win over Utah State on Nov. 20.

- John Stanton finished the season as the leader in tackles for the St. John's University football team with 76 (51 solo). He ranked 13th in tackles per game in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as St. John's finished the regular season undefeated and as MIAC champion. The No. 4 Johnnies were upset in the first round of the D-III playoffs, 34-27 by Coe College of Iowa.

- San Anselmo native and Branson alum Christy Meier, an outside hitter for the Division III Amherst women's volleyball team in Massachusetts, completed quite the sophomore campaign. Meier led Amherst (20-8) with 391 kills, an average of nearly 14 per match, to go with a hitting percentage of .285.

- Freshman Vanessa Sillman, a Marin Catholic graduate, scored nine points to go with eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals for the United States Coast Guard Academy in a 70-60 loss to Johnson and Wales University on Nov. 21.

- Through five games, Drake grad Morgan Sabia ranks third on his Hartford men's basketball team in scoring at 11.8 points per game, and third in rebounding, pulling down 5.2 boards per contest.

- Terra Linda High alum Jordan Lewis, a sophomore on the Cal Poly men's basketball team, is third on the Mustangs (0-4) in scoring at 8.8 points per game, also chipping in 2.8 rebounds per contest while leading the team in field goal percentage at .571.

- San Rafael grad Weldon Miller leads his Iowa Wesleyan men's basketball squad in scoring and rebounding, chipping in 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game through the Tigers' first eight games.

- It was previously reported in this column that Branson alum Sam Bilney would miss the University of Richmond women's basketball team's season with a knee injury. She'll have familiar company on the bench, as Rachael Bilney is also out with a torn meniscus she suffered in mid-October. Rachael was expected to be ready to play by late November or early December.

- The UCLA men's rugby club is off to an encouraging start with the help of four Redwood High and Marin Highlanders Rugby Club alumni. First year fullback/flyhalf James Faccinto and hooker Sam Sirell (both Redwood '09) each scored a try, and Faccinto kicked two conversions, in a 44-10 victory over UC Irvine on November 13th. Both also played the first side match Nov. 20, a 46-10 win against nearby rival Loyola Marymount University, with Faccinto adding three conversion kicks. Also contributing are scrumhalf Matt Cadelago (Redwood '08), who scored a try against LMU in the 2nd side match, and center Matt Frederickson (Redwood '09).

Vincent Tannura covers college sports at the IJ. Send updates to vtannura@marinij.com or contribute to the On Campus blog at marinij.com